-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Multipurpose tool for urban use
- Thread starter Troylow
- Start date
The Victorinox classic is a great urban edc, and it's one of my favorite things to have on hand. I'm primarily an urban dweller and retired with some outings in the woods and river banks for fishing. I lived most my life in and around Washington D.C. and the little classic on a keyring was all that was needed most times.
But I got a Leatherman squirt about three years ago and it's become one of my favorites to the point that it edged out the classic for a lot of carry. More tools and the great little pliers and a heavier duty package almost as small. Just a tad heavier that's all.
If I had to pick one small tool for the pocket in urban use, the Leatherman squirt gets the go-ahead. Flat and Phillips screw drivers, scissors, pliers, and wore cutter, and two kinds of file. Like I said, it's little bulkier, but the mission capability is far wider.
Unlike the Leatherman micra, the other small multitool, the squirt don't have to be opened up to pull out whatever tool you want.
But I love them both so much I often carry both. That's the beauty of the mini tool, you can carry more than one. The Vic classic is in a leather pouch sheath right on my keyring, the squirt goes in the coin pocket or dropped down in the pants pocket with the change. Both have their strong points. The squirt is a heavier duty item but the Victorinox is a finer tool with better finish and blade. The thin blade of the classic is like a surgeons scalpel or exact blade. Very fine cutter, and the Vic scissors are surgical grade. The classic is sooo light you'll never notice it on your keyring. The squirt is a little heavy for that and needs pocket carry.
But I got a Leatherman squirt about three years ago and it's become one of my favorites to the point that it edged out the classic for a lot of carry. More tools and the great little pliers and a heavier duty package almost as small. Just a tad heavier that's all.
If I had to pick one small tool for the pocket in urban use, the Leatherman squirt gets the go-ahead. Flat and Phillips screw drivers, scissors, pliers, and wore cutter, and two kinds of file. Like I said, it's little bulkier, but the mission capability is far wider.
Unlike the Leatherman micra, the other small multitool, the squirt don't have to be opened up to pull out whatever tool you want.
But I love them both so much I often carry both. That's the beauty of the mini tool, you can carry more than one. The Vic classic is in a leather pouch sheath right on my keyring, the squirt goes in the coin pocket or dropped down in the pants pocket with the change. Both have their strong points. The squirt is a heavier duty item but the Victorinox is a finer tool with better finish and blade. The thin blade of the classic is like a surgeons scalpel or exact blade. Very fine cutter, and the Vic scissors are surgical grade. The classic is sooo light you'll never notice it on your keyring. The squirt is a little heavy for that and needs pocket carry.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2016
- Messages
- 11,261
Leatherman Squirt s4 is the version woth scissors. It is not much bigger than the smallest swiss army knife. I find it way better than the swiss army knife.
They also have another small one, the leatherman micra which comes with scissors. Both of these are small enough to fit on a keychain without bulking it up.
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2016
- Messages
- 184
For me I like a little more functionality than the squirts so I carry a leatherman juice s2. The juice has a great set of scissors as will as pliers, 3 flat heads, 1 phillips head, can/bottle opener and blade. I have carried it every day for the last two years and it has performed admirably on a variety of small to medium tasks. No nail file and no tweezers but I do not miss those tools.
Hi troylow!
You could find it in Utica cutlery's Kutmaster brand ...
11-3536CP 16-Function MiniMaster
pocket tool/key ring companion
2-3/8" long
weighs 1-3/4 ounces
each blade and implement locks during use.
Features
- Small Screwdriver
- Medium Screwdriver
- Modified Phillips
- Clip Blade
- Nail File
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2007
- Messages
- 8,046
I have the SwissCard classic but I never really carry it. For wallet it's too thick (adds too much bulk) and for pocket it's pointless (regular SAK is more conventional). I would suggest regular size SAK with tools of your liking since they are very friendly knives. I have alox classic in my keychain and but even in urban setting I prefer to carry regular (SAK sized) pocket knife with me.
The best approach really, is to figure out what you really need in your day to day life. Are you a blue collar guy working in a an environment like a warehouse or shot that you need a good assortment of tools and a good box cutter?
Or are you an office cubical worker that maybe needs to open a few manilla business size envelopes and can get by with a Victorinox classic on a keyring?
What you do, in what part of town and how you dress makes a huge difference in choices.
Or are you an office cubical worker that maybe needs to open a few manilla business size envelopes and can get by with a Victorinox classic on a keyring?
What you do, in what part of town and how you dress makes a huge difference in choices.
It really depends what your needs are for urban usage. Like others have said, a Victorinox Classic is an excellent choice for many people (my older brother and his wife ONLY carry Classics).
Or the Leatherman Squirt, Micra or similar-sized multi-tool is excellent.
My personal EDC pocket tools consist of a Victorinox Executive SAK (a little bigger than a classic, but still small), and either my Vic Spartan or Alox Pioneer. The advantage of the Spartan is I can carry my tiny eyeglass screwdriver in the corkscrew, and it does come in handy. The Executive pairs well with either of those SAKs, because each has something the other doesn't, but they're still easy to carry. Or you could replace the Executive with a Classic, which is cheaper and much easier to find/replace than the Executive.
Jim
That's an excellent combo for urban/suburban carry!
The SD tip on the classic and executive make a great staple remover, as does the tapered tip of the nail file on the exec. Plus, being just a tiny tad bigger, the exec gives you an spare knife blade. Both are superlative office knives.
The Spartan does more than carry a tiny eye glass screw driver, an important job in itself. But the Vic corkscrew is a knot untangler without peer. I found out early in married life that nobody, but nobody, could tangle a sneaker lace better than a 4 year old. But the corkscrew makes very short work out that. Not to mention opening that bottle after the kids are in bed and you and the better half have some de-compression time.
Dynamite combination, Jim!
Last edited:
Thanks, jackknife!
Yes, I forgot to mention the knot-untangling abilities of the corkscrew! I actually use it just for that purpose often enough that I favor the Spartan's corkscrew over the Tinker's back-opening Phillips. And you are spot-on about the staple-removing uses of the Classic and Executive SD tips.
*Edit to add:
I wish that Victorinox made a version of the Alox Pioneer with a single back-opening tool; a corkscrew.
Jim
Yes, I forgot to mention the knot-untangling abilities of the corkscrew! I actually use it just for that purpose often enough that I favor the Spartan's corkscrew over the Tinker's back-opening Phillips. And you are spot-on about the staple-removing uses of the Classic and Executive SD tips.
*Edit to add:
I wish that Victorinox made a version of the Alox Pioneer with a single back-opening tool; a corkscrew.
Jim
Last edited:
I like the victorinox compact for ‘urban’ use. The knife on a full size SAK is good enough to cut most food, it’s not relegated to utility/box opening/letter opening/scraping like a 58mm SAK. It’s got the scissors, which is good for those finer cutting tasks.
The combo cap/can opener/screwdriver - I find the screwdriver a little lacking because you need to hold it at 45 degrees to get it to engage a Phillips head, which makes it not very ergonomic, but I’m not finding myself ‘unexpectedly’ turning many screws in an urban situation.
The pin, eyelash screwdriver, corkscrew, nail file, toothpick, and tweezers all have their place. The hook seems like I have to invent reasons to have it. There are a few occasional makeshift reasons - but often one of the other tools could have also done it.
If I knew there was a chance I’d be “working” on something, I’d skip the compact in favor of something with a more ergonomic phillips driver. If I knew I would be “outdoors”, maybe I’d choose something with an awl.
The combo cap/can opener/screwdriver - I find the screwdriver a little lacking because you need to hold it at 45 degrees to get it to engage a Phillips head, which makes it not very ergonomic, but I’m not finding myself ‘unexpectedly’ turning many screws in an urban situation.
The pin, eyelash screwdriver, corkscrew, nail file, toothpick, and tweezers all have their place. The hook seems like I have to invent reasons to have it. There are a few occasional makeshift reasons - but often one of the other tools could have also done it.
If I knew there was a chance I’d be “working” on something, I’d skip the compact in favor of something with a more ergonomic phillips driver. If I knew I would be “outdoors”, maybe I’d choose something with an awl.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Messages
- 2,792
Not sure what you mean here. I have found most Phillips heads easy to engage with the small driver used straight on, except for those that are countersunk, for the most part successfully, enough so that I consider myself well enough prepared for such possibilities if that's all I'm carrying. Are you trying to use the cutting part of the can opener to turn screws?
I use the hook occasionally to lift wire bailed bundles of newsprint or straw, where it is a real help. I can't think of another SAK mounted tool that would work better for the purpose. It is also handy for tightening boot laces. Apart from that, it just lays against the backspacing and can be ignored, which is mostly what I do with it.
Except for the Manager I always carry in my 5th pocket, I won't own a multitool without an awl. I almost passed on a Charge TTi because of no awl, despite a good price on it, but was able to find a mod that fit in the pocket clip notch. It was a kludge, but worked well enough, so that tipped the balance. I'm serious about awls, use them often.
Hi. No offense, but reading your post makes me think that you are not familiar with the victorinox compact can opener/bottle opener/screwdriver. There is only one tool that does allof those functions, and yes, you need to angle the screwdriver 45 degrees to turn phillips screws. There’s no way you can fit that tool into a Phillips head straight on.
I was carrying a Vic bantam for a while, and that combo tool was one of the reasons I phased tout. The combo tool made a pretty good bottle opener, a fair can opener, but a lousy Phillips driver. It worked, and if it was the only tool Ihad while out someplace, it would have been 'good enough' to get by. But in the end, I wanted a better easier to use Phillips tool. It seems the whole world in now being held together by number two or smaller Phillips, and the angled combo tool was too slow. Even a recruit beats it using the SD tip of the can opener. For that matter, the SD tip on my classic is more economic.
Is anyone still using flat head screws anymore?
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2006
- Messages
- 1,712
Electricians, for some reason.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Messages
- 2,792
No offense taken. You are right, I am not familiar with the Vic compact can opener, etc., having never owned a SAK that was fitted with one.
The Bantam never appealed to me, so I know little about its implements. I like the 58 and 91 mm cellidor models best, although the Sportsman also has its charms. I have two. One of them is in my kitchen drawer for its corkscrew. Our original dedicated one broke, and I never got around to replacing it. The other sometimes comes with me when going light. On two occasions when carrying mine, the dedicated corkscrew of a party host went missing and I got to be the hero, at least for the 20 or so minutes before it was found again (this was over a twenty + year period, so not a frequently urgent matter
.)There are a number of them holding stuff up and/or together in my old house, and I seem to find plenty of them abroad. I probably use a flat head screwdriver almost as often as ph ones in my doings, and they are also useful for prying.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 990
I am a big fan of the smaller keychain tools for pocket carry. The Micra, Squirt, Style, Classic, Executive...I never gelled with the Gerber or SOG offerings, and tend to lean toward Vic and Leatherman. As a cube dweller suburbanite, I seldom need more, and appreciate the smaller load in my pockets.
Right now, I'm rocking a Micra in my pocket. Yesterday a Style CS. Last week, my Executive. I usually turn the occasional screw, open random packages and boxes, pop open plastic straps binding boxes of paper, trim nose hair, pop out stuck batteries on my kids toys...just stuff. I'm not a survivalist, and these tools fill a niche in my lifestyle. Can complain, for the most part.
Right now, I'm rocking a Micra in my pocket. Yesterday a Style CS. Last week, my Executive. I usually turn the occasional screw, open random packages and boxes, pop open plastic straps binding boxes of paper, trim nose hair, pop out stuck batteries on my kids toys...just stuff. I'm not a survivalist, and these tools fill a niche in my lifestyle. Can complain, for the most part.
yeah i agree the swisscard seems abit big, im glad i didnt buy it. I think at this point of time im probably going for a leatherman squirt or mirca. Just not sure which.